So yesterday I fell off during a local gymkhana :oops: . At the time, no big deal. I hopped back on, and although I felt a little sore, rode out the rest of the day.
But several hours later, when it was time to head home, I really started feeling it. I had trouble getting in and out of my car. By the time I got home I couldn't really bend over at all, could barely walk, and had trouble sitting at all.
All the pain was right at my tailbone area.

I slept on and off for the night and this morning (frequently waking in pain), but by now I can bend about halfway down, and have no pain in just walking around, standing, or laying on my side or stomach. So a lot of improvement. It does still hurt to sit on a chair (the toilet is ok, since there's no pressure on the tailbone and bending is ok now :lol: ).
I have my computer set up on a counter so I can stand up to use it.

So I'm just sort of curious, is this worth a trip to the doctor, or is this likely something that'll just go away in a few days? How do I tell the difference? It has been a vast improvement in just one day.

And how do I make sure I'm ready for a 10 mile trail ride scheduled for next weekend? :lol:

Anyone else have any experience with tailbone pain after falling, and how you managed it and got back riding again?

(Yeah, the slightest thing wrong with my baby and I call the vet, but when it comes to me, I try to avoid doctors at all costs :lol: )

outnabout

09-18-2011 09:42 PM

Tylenol and ice packs help with the pain. There is nothing that can be done at the doctor's for a fractured tail bone, or in other words, they can't fix it as they would a fractured arm or leg.
I fractured my tail bone slipping on a tile floor once and the pain lasted about 7 months. I wasn't riding at the time. Another time I was riding a lease horse who spooked and dumped me and I thought it was another fracture, but turned out to be soft tissue damage in the tailbone area. Hurt just as bad. That took about 4 months to heal.
As for the trail ride, Tylenol can help if you take it continuously as directed. It's hard to say, as people have different levels of pain tolerance. Mine is high...

tempest

09-18-2011 09:44 PM

I have, but I have no advice for you about going to see a doctor because I didn't. I was working a horse bareback when I heard a crack and my tail bone suddenly really hurt. I couldn't move very well, let alone bend over. I went home and for the next three days my tailbone hurt. Each day it hurt less. I was fine to ride about a week later.

Shenandoah

09-18-2011 09:57 PM

Thanks all. So it sounds like there isn't much a doctor can do anyway? (Other than, I suppose, give stronger pain meds if I wanted them, which I don't particularly since the pain is manageable right now by just not sitting.)

I guess I'll just take it one day at a time, and see how I'm doing next weekend.

Fortunately, my boss is being very flexible and letting me work from home, where I can stay standing at the counter. There's no way I could sit in a chair in front of the computer for 8-9 hours/day right now!

tinyliny

09-19-2011 01:10 AM

I hurt my tailbone badly falling at skiing on hard snow (ice, really). It took 7 or 8 months to heal! might have been broken, but i never went to doc.

take some anti imflammatories, such as Aleve or Ibuprofin. Tylenol has not antiimfflamtory properties.

PumpkinzMyBaby22

09-19-2011 06:18 AM

I have tailbone issues as well. Mine went away soon enough and I continued riding. I went to a doctor about a year and a half later, but they only said what it could be, not how to fix it etc. So I just kept riding, and put up with the pain.

From the sounds of it, you have damaged the soft tissue. Is there a naturopath you can see? I went to one recently and it has helped immensely. I would get it checked out though. There could be more damage then just soft tissue damage, and even though there is nothing the doctors can do, it would be better to know.

Royal Pine Buck

09-19-2011 04:20 PM

I also damaged my tailbone ,twice.

once when I was a baby and I fractured it, and again when I was 14 (i went down a slide on my bike and wasn't able to get up on the seat and ended up riding down on the bar and the bump when my bike dropped off the slide made the bar jame right up in my tailbone. i had to walk my bike home)

you have to remember that your tailbone IS a part of your spine! and can cause all sorts of back issues.

i remember trying to bend over and feeling like a rope was attached to my tailbone all way up my spine to my neck! it was that sore to bend over!

I would get an xray if it doesn't feel better. and keep taking anti-inflammatorys.

every now and then my tailbone still hurts when i bend over or doing something to annoy it.

Shenandoah

09-19-2011 08:51 PM

Today I got out and about a little. It hurt to drive, and get out of the car, but once I was up moving around I was ok. My boy got a long grooming, since that was all I could do with him. Oh, and I had the foresight to start clicker-training him to lift his feet on command a few days ago, so that also helped - since I can't bend over! LOL.

I got a cushion with a cutout at the Healthy Back Store, and that helps me to sit, although it's still pretty painful to stand up again after sitting.

I had a nap this afternoon, and now it's even feeling a little better. So maybe things will be ok if I just take it easy a few days.

If it's still bad in a few days, I think I will go see the doctor, as I could at least get a note for a little time off work for recovery if sitting continues to aggravate it.

Sunny

09-19-2011 09:07 PM

I had three falls, each once week apart, where I landed on my tail bone.

It was definitely painful, but it went away with a few weeks rest.Posted via Mobile Device

mumiinek

09-21-2011 05:27 PM

I hurt my tailbone when I fell while skiing some 7 years ago. The worst pain went away in a few months but it never went away completely. I don't have problems sitting unless I'm sitting in the same possition for a long time (a slight movement after 15 minutes of sitting without a single shift of my body feels like knives stabbing in my back, though luckily it doesn't happen very often because I tend to wiggle myself all the time). I guess I probably had it broken or chipped and it grew together incorrectly. I remember my first few rides after the accident, every step the horse took fell like a lightning going through my arse lol Today I have no problems riding, as I said, the problem is only if I sit in the same possition for a long time and then try to for example stand up. Or actually... now that I think about, I guess a bit of a dull pain is still there, I just got used to it and only really consider the sharp stabbing pain I sometimes feel. It is kind of limiting in some ways (it was HORRIBLE at school) however I know if I could take the time back, I wouldn't go to the doctor anyway...